Helicopter crash in central London kills two

London police confirm two people are dead, after a helicopter crashed during a rush hour in central London. The chopper apparently went down after hitting a construction crane on top of a building. (Jan. 16)
AP

Two people are confirmed dead after a helicopter struck a construction crane in central London.

Smoke pours from the burning debris of a helicopter which crashed Wednesday in the Vauxhall area of London, England.(Photo: Victor Jimenez, Getty)

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LONDON — Police in London say a helicopter crashed during rush hour in central London after hitting a construction crane on top of a building.

Scotland Yard confirmed that two people were killed, one of them the pilot, as the helicopter slammed into a building in the Vauxhall area of the city at the height of the Wednesday morning rush hour. Thirteen others were injured.

The incident led to road closures and bus diversions in Vauxhall, which is an area close to the River Thames as well as the British spy agency MI6.

Britain's Ministry of Defense said it was not a military helicopter, and a British security official who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the press said the incident was not terror-related.

Video on Sky News showed wreckage burning in a street, and black smoke in the area. The video from the crash scene showed a line of flaming fuel and debris. Witnesses said the helicopter hit a crane atop a 50-story residential building, the St. George Wharf Tower.

The area, roughly 10 blocks from the major Waterloo train and Underground station, is extremely congested during the morning rush hour. Many commuters arrive at the main line stations from London's southern suburbs and transfer to buses or trains there.

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British aviation authorities had issued a "notice to airmen" warning pilots about the crane, which extended to 770 feet above ground. The crane is lit at night, and police said investigators would look at whether the light was faulty.